Cero Reviews Lucha Underground: The Re-watch EP9

[cero2k]

So now that LU season 1 is officially over, my life is meaningless, so in order to stay alive, i'm going to start re-watching LU from the beginning, evaluating subtle hints, things that were never payed off, build up that I missed. etc. I don't have to say, but I'll be spoiling a lot of future shows in case you haven't seen them. I won't rate matches with numbers, but I'll try to find a word that describes my feeling for the match.

EP 9: Aztec Warfare

We open with a recap of last week.

There are Aztec Matachines dancing around the ring. Dario Cueto is here to present the match. There are kids in the temple, and this could be one of the last time see kids around.

AZTEC WARFARE MATCH FOR THE LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPIONSHIP - PERFECT 10!

#1 Is Fenix for losing last week to Muertes. Fenix is showing a lot of bruises from last week too.

#2 is Johnny Mundo by 'randon draw'

#3 is Cisco and Striker name drops Lil' Cholo, Cisco is eliminated before the next entry.

#4 is King Cuerno

#5 is Son of Havoc

#6 is Pimpinela Escarlata, Huge pop, the believers like their Pimpi, he's awesome, i love every time he tries to kiss the refs.

#7 is Prince Puma, he goes straight for Mundo.

#8 is Ivelisse. Pimpi tries to kiss her, but then goes for Cuerno, who is possibly the worst person you can try to kiss. SOH and Ivelisse start working together.

#9 is Drago, it seemed like he was going straight for Cuerno, but fought everyone instead while Cuerno stalked. During this segment, Cuerno eliminated Ivelisse *sad face*

#10 is Bael. During this segment, Prince Puma eliminated Son Of Havoc while everyone fights outside.

#11 is Cortez Castro. Bael and Castro actually start dominating Mundo, Fenix, and Puma.

#12 is Ricky Mandel, Striker and Vampiro tried to sell me on him, keyword 'tried'. Puma eliminates Bael while Mundo eliminates Cortez.

#13 Big Ryk, this was really similar to the Bray/Lesnar spot in the Royal Rumble 2016, except Aztec Warfare is indeed 'anything goes'. Ryk dominates and eliminates Ricky Mandell, and assists Cuerno on eliminating Drago. Mundo then eliminates Cuerno.

#14 is Pentagon Jr! Two awesome things. Pentagon vs Big Ryk wa a thing, then Puma, Ryk, Mundo, and Fenix all team against Pentagon and he kicked all their asses.

#15 is Super Fly.

#16 is Chavito Guerrero, Jr w/ Chair. He quickly eliminated Super Fly and betrayed Pentagon Jr. Eliminated him. Chavo should pay in season 2, with BLOOD!!!

#17 is Mascarita Sagrada. I'm really surprised they saved Mascarita for so late in the match, everyone left is already a legit contender to win, so comedy mascarita feels out of place now. He's still fun to watch. Him and Feni has a cool exchange.

#18 is Ms Marvel AKA Sexy Star and goes straight for Chavo Guerrero. Ryk killed Mascarita too.

#19 is Mariachi Loco, I'd say the same about Loco as with Sagrada, but Mariachi Loco is actually pretty good, he just has a funny gimmick.

#20. The drums tremble. Mil Muertes arrives at Aztec Warfare. It feels like in Lord of the Rings, during the battle for middle earth I, when Sauron finally arrives at the battle. Muertes eliminates Loco and faces off with Big Ryk, everyone sits and watches, because this could be legendary.

Ryk is eliminated after Chavo, Ryk, Puma, and Mundo hit moves on him. Chavo then eliminates dark horse Fenix after a chair shot. Sexy Star takes her gloves off and goes for Chavo. He takes her out, but Blue Demon attacks Chavo and helps eliminate him.

Final four are Puma, Mundo, Muertes, and Sexy Star. After some fighting, Muertes spears Sexy to death. Then they built the greatest spot in the show. Mundo accidentally kicks Catrina in the head and takes her out, this enrages Muertes and Mundo is legit scared out of his life and this leads to Puma saving him and with two 450 splashes, they eliminate Muertes.

Prince Puma wins with a 600 Senton. Mundo shows respect and Konnnan comes out to congratulate Puma. Happy Ending.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:
First example that you can have a show focused on one single match and make it amazing, pace it correctly, and deliver until the very end. This was an example that you can book a rumble so that more than two men are credible contenders to win, I could make an argument for 10 men in this match to be the first winners. Perfect execution by Lucha Underground, and this is were it all turn around for them, this is when LU became the best wrestling show on tv.

[Big Red Machine]

I could make an argument for 10 men in this match to be the first winners.

I think you're looking at this with too much hindsight. At the time, the only credible first winners were:

Top teir:
Muertes
Puma
Mundo

Tier 2:
Fenix

Tier 3:
Chavo
Sexy Star

No one else was a credible-enough threat. Drago and Cuerno were midcarders, Pentagon Jr. was basically Chavo's lackey, and Ryck was in that spot where you kind of knew he was on way down the card and not on the way up.

[Big Red Machine]

I will say that this was a very important show for LU because it was the first real sign we got that they could deliver when the chips were down.

[cero2k]

I could make an argument for 10 men in this match to be the first winners.

I think you're looking at this with too much hindsight. At the time, the only credible first winners were:

Top teir:
Muertes
Puma
Mundo

Tier 2:
Fenix

Tier 3:
Chavo
Sexy Star

No one else was a credible-enough threat. Drago and Cuerno were midcarders, Pentagon Jr. was basically Chavo's lackey, and Ryck was in that spot where you kind of knew he was on way down the card and not on the way up.

I'd argue that Ryck, Chavo, and Fenix could have been champs easily. I remember well when they first announced this show that i felt that all those guys plus Sexy Star and Blue Demon (who i didn't know wasn't in the match) could all get the title, I've never felt that LU needed to super establish you in order to use you, or put the title on you because it always seemed like they had something in mind already. I may had even thought that Matanza could debut here too back then. so, ok, maybe not 10, but 7-8 wrestlers out of 20 is still a great percentage.

Cage had also been on commercials by now and hadn't debuted.

[Big Red Machine]

I could make an argument for 10 men in this match to be the first winners.

I think you're looking at this with too much hindsight. At the time, the only credible first winners were:

Top teir:
Muertes
Puma
Mundo

Tier 2:
Fenix

Tier 3:
Chavo
Sexy Star

No one else was a credible-enough threat. Drago and Cuerno were midcarders, Pentagon Jr. was basically Chavo's lackey, and Ryck was in that spot where you kind of knew he was on way down the card and not on the way up.

I'd argue that Ryck, Chavo, and Fenix could have been champs easily. I remember well when they first announced this show that i felt that all those guys plus Sexy Star and Blue Demon (who i didn't know wasn't in the match) could all get the title, I've never felt that LU needed to super establish you in order to use you, or put the title on you because it always seemed like they had something in mind already. I may had even thought that Matanza could debut here too back then. so, ok, maybe not 10, but 7-8 wrestlers out of 20 is still a great percentage.

Cage had also been on commercials by now and hadn't debuted.

I felt the opposite. In LU, there needs to be focus on you before they'd put the belt on you. I didn't feel like they had much in mind for a lot of people at this point (Pentagon Jr. being the prime example).
Similarly, there are guys like Ryck who it seemed like they had big plans for here that they didn't do much important stuff with after this point.

[cero2k]

I felt the opposite. In LU, there needs to be focus on you before they'd put the belt on you. I didn't feel like they had much in mind for a lot of people at this point (Pentagon Jr. being the prime example).
Similarly, there are guys like Ryck who it seemed like they had big plans for here that they didn't do much important stuff with after this point.

Knowing what i know now, i'd be more inclined to think that, but back then, like i said, it was only the ninth episode, and by then, we had seen a lot of guys get important wins or be put over, but there were also some guys that they could go with if you didn't want to be like every other promotion in the world that puts the well-known-name wrestler as the initial champ.